“I’ve been playing the violin more, actually. When I had time to.”
“Yeah?” Eric grinned. “You haven’t played for me yet.”
Olivier squirmed, his blush deepening. “Why would you... want to hear me?”
“Because I love you,” Eric said.
Ollie swallowed hard, as though he still wasn’t used to hearing it.
That gave Eric an idea. “C’mon, Jenn. Let’s say, ‘I love you,’ to Ollie. Say I... looove youuu.”
Jenn grinned. “Nana ga laaa eeerrrr!”
Eric laughed. “Close enough.”
Olivier’s forehead wrinkled. “I don’t see how she’d love me.”
“Of course she does. You’re the one changing her diapers more often than me.” Eric nudged his omega.
“That’s it?” Ollie gave a soft, disbelieving laugh. “All I have to do is be good to her?”
“Yup.”
“That’s... That’s almost too easy,” Ollie said quietly, his smile wistful.
“Some things in life are easy,” Eric murmured, pressing a kiss to Olivier’s belly. “Like me loving you. And the baby, too.”
Olivier’s smile grew. So Eric lifted Jenn, turning her to face Olivier’s belly.
“Say hi to your new sibling, Jenn,” Eric said, placing her hand carefully on Ollie’s abdomen. “They’re in there somewhere. You’re gonna be a big sister soon!”
Jenn patted Ollie’s belly, staring blankly at it.
“Maybe next time,” Olivier said.
“Next time, she’ll be calling you Papa,” Eric answered. “Or would you rather be Daddy too?”
Olivier froze, glancing at Jenn. “I don’t know.”
“We’ll wait for you to decide, then,” Eric said. “Plenty of time.”
Ollie’s gaze softened, and Eric leaned in, breathing in his omega’s carnation scent. As long as they were all together, things would turn out okay, right?
23
Olivier
“I’m not sure we should’ve accepted the invitation,” Olivier said, his heart squeezing. “It’s just lunch, I know. But... I haven’t seen your mom in a while.”
Eric straightened his shirt, breathing a sigh. “We can’t keep hiding from them, Ollie. You know that.”
“I know. It’s just...” Olivier looked down at his clothes, smoothing his hand over his belly. At four months, his baby bump was growing ever more pronounced. It was difficult to hide his pregnancy now, even if they’d bothered with scent suppressants. “I don’t think very many people would accept our relationship at all.”
Eric stepped over, wrapping his arms around Ollie’s waist. “If it gets bad, we’ll leave the restaurant, yeah? It’s no trouble for me.”
Ollie leaned into his alpha, his stomach twisting with anxiety. It had been years since he’d visited the family. He’d bumped into his dad or stepmom around Meadowfall, but those had been minute-long encounters. Not an hour of being stuck at the same table, being judged by all of them.
“It’ll be so much easier if it wasn’t your baby,” Olivier mumbled. Not that he regretted the baby at all.
Eric narrowed his eyes. “Even then, I rather it was mine. Because I want you to remember that I love you. It’s not like I’m gonna leave anytime soon.”
Olivier blushed, looking down as he smiled. “Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Eric said. “For all of this. For letting Jenn and me step into your life.”
Jenn crawled over to the corner of their bed, cramming the sheets into her mouth.
Olivier groaned. It had been getting tricky, letting her crawl around the backroom of the store. Jenn had been poking around the dark corners, and Ollie had been forced to put Levi in charge of the store so he could watch over her.
At least, he’d been making enough to afford Levi’s help again.
“I think I’m ready,” Ollie said, checking Jenn’s diaper bag a last time. “Are you?”
“Yup. Let’s head out.”
Olivier squirmed as they left the apartment. They’d gone out together a number of times, but never dressed up, and never holding hands. It always felt as though someone would discover their relationship whenever they were in public.
At the elevator landing, Olivier froze when Kate joined them, her hands in her pockets, thick kohl around her eyes. She was alpha, she lived next door, and she was someone who intimidated Olivier.
Eric nodded at Kate; she nodded back. Then she glanced at Jenn in Eric’s arms, and Eric’s fingers tangled with Ollie’s. Her eyebrows rose.
“Um, this is Eric,” Olivier squeaked. At any moment, she would say, He’s your brother and you have a disgusting relationship.
But Kate shrugged and said, “Right, cool.”
Olivier’s heart thumped anyway.
They all stepped into the elevator, Kate scrolling through something on her phone.
“Told you it’d be fine,” Eric murmured, squeezing Ollie’s sweaty hand.
Olivier squirmed, smiling at Jenn instead so he could think about something other than being judged.
“Wanna hold her?” Eric asked.
Olivier nodded eagerly. Eric handed his cooing daughter over.
Jenn stuck her fingers into Ollie’s mouth, giggling when he made a face. And Eric promptly took a picture of them with his phone.
“Hey!” Olivier yelped.
“That’s too good to miss,” Eric said, tucking his phone into his pocket. “Don’t open your mouth too wide, or she’ll fit her whole hand in there.”
“That’ll give ‘fisting’ a whole new meaning,” Olivier muttered.
Kate snorted on the other side of the elevator, and Olivier relaxed. She seemed friendly.
“I hope you aren’t posting that picture on Facebook,” Olivier muttered.
Eric studied him for a moment, his gaze thoughtful. “I was hoping to.”
“But people will see!”
“Let them, Ollie. This is a permanent relationship. Ain’t nothing gonna make me leave.”
Olivier made a face at him. “If you’re so certain.”
“Yup, I am.”
Eric held Ollie’s gaze, his eyes warm and calm, and Ollie’s stomach flipped. He loved this man.
“Fine,” he said eventually.
“Told you,” Eric answered. Ollie elbowed him so he grunted.
The elevator doors rumbled open. Kate turned and waved. “You guys are cute,” she said with a grin. “See you around.”
Then she left, and Eric raised his eyebrows. “See? Not everyone’s gonna judge us, you know.”
“She doesn’t know we’re brothers,” Ollie said beneath his breath.
“Not everyone has to know.” Eric slipped his arm around Ollie’s waist, guiding him out of the elevator. “To them, we’re just alpha and omega. As we should be.”
That warmed Ollie’s face. If Eric was right... that would be nice, wouldn’t it?
He followed Eric to the car, tucking the traveling bag into the trunk. Eric secured Jenn
